Part of the pleasure is finding niche figures – the ones little celebrated outside their home countries. I am extremely happy with my purchase and was delighted to see that yet another free gift was included with my purchase! Hundreds of pictures of your fun will appear in the newspapers that you can cut out and keep in your album – and all for absolutely free!

The main point, however, is in seeing how political leaders – monarchs, dictators and democrats – have been portrayed in the past and present: how sycophantic admirers revere them; how angry opponents or imaginative artists and canny manufacturers choose to present them; and how poking fun becomes an evocative part of the historical record. There is an entire series of traditional Catalan caganer figurines depicting high-level poopers – including Boris Johnson and US vice-president Kamala Harris. Although the prime minister kept telling us that it was impossible to distinguish working from partying, cleaners probably know the difference.A reporter asked on behalf of his mother why the premier never appears to brush his hair – even when representing the country abroad. At least one government cleaner, instructed to keep coming in to work during lockdown, contracted Covid and died. Boris Johnson is used to brushing aside tough questions, but he has come clean about his notoriously messy hair.

I also came across a silver metal bust of the Bulgarian president Todor Zhivkov, who ruled his country for 35 years, while reporting on an eastern European tour by Robin Cook, Tony Blair’s first foreign secretary. It was not easy covering the EU because of its institutional complexity – and it certainly wasn’t a barrel of laughs. From Alexander the Great to Nelson Mandela, these giants of history have left behind their wisdom and strength – and Boris Johnson is no different. But there was a bit left over which he used as wrapping paper at Christmas because he’s careful with the pennies.

Friends, colleagues and family have contributed a great deal to what I have taken to describing as “you-know-what” or just “the collection”. I still managed to find a delicate figurine of Mahatma Gandhi in Exmouth market (near the Guardian’s old office on Farringdon Road), a tiny statuette of Paul von Hindenburg (the German chief of staff during the first world war and its interwar president) in Brighton, and an Abraham Lincoln bust while visiting New York to cover the UN general assembly. More than 20 objections were made on the planning application for the mast at the time it was approved in June last year. When people see your bathroom this vibrant novelty accessory is going to create a great conversation.